Monday, April 25, 2016

' ...and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.'

Mark 13.13

Reflection St Mark himself was faithful unto death. We can give thanks that the one chosen by God to record these words of His was also given the grace to live them out fully in his life – even as we pray to be granted some small measure of that same grace.

May
my words be in the Name of Almighty God: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. Amen.

GK
Chesterton, the famous writer and Christian apologist, once memorably
said that: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found
wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” No
where does that statement find more resonance than when it comes to
some of the words that we hear Christ speak in our Gospel reading today: ' I give you a new commandment, that you love one
another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one
another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.’

This
commandment stands at the heart of our Lord's Good News; and which of
us would seriously contend that it has been put faithfully into
practice? What a different world we would live in if it were! No war,
for there would be no reason to ever take up arms for their would be
none to fight against; there would be no injustice, for all would
prefer to see themselves wronged in some way rather than see another
receive less than the full measure of justice; and no hunger or want,
for the greed that allows one nation or group to stockpile food while
others go hungry would be such a hideous thought that it would never
occur to anyone to even consider such behaviour. So let us look over
this commandment carefully today and see how we might do better in
following it.

First,
let us consider why Christ calls it a 'new commandment'; after all,
does not the Old Testament tell us to love our neighbour? However, as
St Augustine points out, our Lord adds something radically different
to these words; he says that we must love one another 'as I have
loved you.' That is what makes it new. We are to look to the example
of love that Christ sets for us and do likewise in the love we show
to our brothers and sisters. So what is that example?

Well,
that is too great a topic for a single sermon; but here are some
aspects that we may consider. What is it that we see Christ doing
earlier in this chapter of the Gospel? He washes the feet of his 12
Apostles; God made man does the work of the most menial slave. We may
also think of why he came into the world – ‘For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
'
And we know that Christ died on the Cross for our sins so that we
might have that eternal life. So we can therefore say that the love
we are called to emulate is a love that is both humble and
self-sacrificing, a love that is willing to do anything, even suffer
and die, so that others might have eternal life.

But
we must also keep in mind that the love that Christ has for mankind
requires him to speak the truth. And sometimes that truth can be hard
to hear. Think of the passage in John 6, when having taught them that
if they are to have life in them they must eat his flesh; and some of
his followers say to him 'this teaching is difficult; who can accept
it?' And they leave. But Jesus does not change the teaching. For in
love there must be truth or it is not love; loving someone and
telling them what they want to hear is not the same thing; real love
requires that the truth is spoken, even if, or indeed especially, the
one you love finds that truth difficult to hear. Who, for example,
wants to be told they are a sinner?Yet we hear Christ doing so many
times in the Gospels. When the woman who was taken in adultery was
brought to him, he saved her from the crowd; and then he told her to
sin no more. Saving her life was a prelude to saving her soul; for
what is the point of gaining her a few extra years in this life if
when she comes to the end of her days she should find that she has
been lost to eternal life? Would she have been grateful then that our
Lord had chosen to spare her feelings by not speaking the truth and
warning her to give up her sinful ways? I think not.

This
does not mean that Christians are to berate and harass every person
that they think is not living up to their ideal of what it is to be a
Christian. We may usefully think here of the wise words of
instruction that St Benedict had for abbots as to how they were to
deal with wayward brethren: 'In
administering correction he should act prudently and not go to
excess, lest in seeking too eagerly to scrape off the rust he break
the vessel. Let him keep his own frailty ever before his eyes and
remember that the bruised reed must not be broken. By this we do not
mean that he should allow vices to grow; on the contrary, as we have
already said, he should eradicate them prudently and with love, in
the way which may seem best in each case. .'

We
are none of us, of course, abbots; and those around us are not monks.
They are, however, children of God and our brothers and sisters; and
we are, to answer the question of Cain, very much our brother's
keeper. We have a responsibility towards them; and that
responsibility has as a part of it the duty to present them with the
truth they need to attain eternal life. It is indeed difficult, as
Chesterton said; but we dare not leave it untried, for Christ himself
gave it to us as a commandment. And those who love Christ know that
he will by his grace sustain us at times of difficulty. And we may
take comfort from the knowledge that by loving others as Christ loved
us that not only will all the world know that we are his disciples;
Christ himself will know it also, even as he welcomes us into his
Father's house on the last day. Amen.

'The Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although she is disseminated throughout the whole world, yet guarded it, as if she occupied but one house. She likewise believes these things just as if she had but one soul and one and the same heart and harmoniously she proclaims them and teaches them and hands them down, as if she possessed but one mouth. For, while the languages of the world are diverse, nevertheless, the authority of the Tradition is one and the same.'

Thursday, April 21, 2016

'Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.’

John 13. 20

Reflection The Father sent the Son; and the Son sent his followers out into the world. They are the ones to whom he entrusted his Gospel. Therefore to listen to those who faithfully pass his message on is to listen to God himself.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Father Yang Jianwei went missing in Hebei Province, China on 15 April, the third Catholic priest to have disappeared and suspected to be detained by the authorities this month. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Henan Province, a pastor’s wife was reportedly buried alive on 14 April while protesting the demolition of her church.

Father Yang is the parish priest for Anzhuang village in Baoding and belongs to a Catholic community not recognised by the Chinese government, sometimes known as the “underground” Church.

According to the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), Baoding is home to almost 1 million Catholics and Father Yang is one of at least five “underground” Catholic priests in Hebei believed to have been picked up by authorities this month; two have since been released. AsiaNews also reported the detention or disappearance of priests in Hebei and Fujian.

Although the reasons for these disappearances are not clear, they come at a time when activists, academics, and lawyers are reporting a deterioration in China’s human rights situation and tightening restrictions on civil society, including religious communities. Both Catholics and Protestants in China have opposed the removal of hundreds of crosses by the authorities in Zhejiang Province since early 2014, while the international community has expressed alarm at the detention and disappearance of lawyers who have defended human rights including the right to freedom of religion or belief.

In other news, Ding Cuimei, a pastor’s wife, was reportedly buried alive on 14 April while protesting the demolition of her church in Henan Province.

According to reports from China Aid Association, Ding Cuimei and her husband, Pastor Li Jiangong, stepped in front of a bulldozer as a local developer supported by the government attempted to demolish their church building in Zhumadian, Henan Province. Ding Cuimei died of suffocation while her husband Li was able to dig his way out. Local police are reportedly conducting an investigation.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), said, “We are shocked and concerned by these reports concerning the death of Ding Cuimei in Henan Province in connection with the demolition of her church, and the disappearance of Catholic clergy in Hebei and Fujian. The enforced disappearance of any citizen, including religious leaders, human rights lawyers, and petitioners, is incompatible with rule of law. We urge the authorities in Henan, Hebei and Fujian to investigate immediately and impartially these worrying reports, and to hold to account those responsible. We further call on the Chinese government to remove restrictions on the right to freedom of religion or belief for both registered and unregistered communities in China.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

Sunday, April 17, 2016

May
my words be in the Name of Almighty God: Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. Amen.

Patience,
as you all know is a virtue. And Jesus, therefore, being the perfect
man and the exemplar of all virtues clearly had patience in
abundance. But we can almost hear the exasperation in his voice in
our Gospel reading today as he responds to those who ask whether he
is the Messiah or not. ‘How
long will you keep us in suspense?'
they say. 'If
you are the Messiah,tell
us plainly.’
And Jesus answers them: ‘I
have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my
Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe.'

The
works of which he speaks are, of course, the miraculous signs that he
has performed. So far in St John's Gospel he has transformed water
into wine, fed many thousands with a few pieces of bread and fish,
walked on water, and made the blind to see. And we know from the
other Gospels that there were many other great miracles not recounted
by St John: the calming of the storm, lepers cleansed, those who were
lame being able to walk, those who were mute were able to speak, the
deaf to hear, and many others healed of varying diseases. Even the
dead were raised to life. So it is understandable if our Lord seems
to have had enough of them when it comes to this topic. What more did
they want? Were the miracles, combined with his words, not enough for
them? How much plainer did he need to be? And in the face of their
wilful obstinacy, what more would it take for them to believe?

The
human ability to ignore what is right in front of us is wondrous
indeed. And it is no less today than then; for we know that there are
many who continue to refuse to believe in Jesus in spite of all the
testimony, in spite of the powerful evidence that exists that he is,
as he said, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You will still find
today, for example, those who deny that Jesus ever existed.
Thankfully, there are very few of those as it is not a proposition
that any respectable or responsible historian will give the slightest
credit to. However there remain many who will try to assert that not
only was he not God, he never claimed to be. Such a view is not
sustainable, even from a very surface reading of the Gospels. In our
Gospel reading today, which is quite a short passage, there are three
examples of what can be termed claims of divinity.

The
first is when he refers to those who believe in him and follow him as
being his sheep. 'My sheep' he calls them, not once but twice. And in
a biblical context when people are referred to metaphorically as
sheep, the metaphorical shepherd is either the king or God. So to
claim people as being his sheep is either a royal or divine claim.
Now given that his questioners are asking him if he is the Messiah
one might suppose this claim is somewhat ambiguous; perhaps he is
doing no more than claiming to be a king. But I think in the context
of the remainder of the passage it must be seen as a divine claim.

For
Jesus goes on immediately after to to say that those who believe and
follow him will never perish but he will give them eternal life. Now
it is not in the power of a king to grant eternal life to anyone, not
even himself. There is no person living who followed any human king
who has been granted immortality as a result. No; there is only one
person who can promise eternal life and that is God himself. But
Jesus does make such a promise. And his language is quite
unambiguous; he is not saying that he will do so as some kind of
intermediary, that God has given to him the power to grant eternal
life to those who will follow him. No, he says simply and directly 'I
will give them eternal life.'

And
if that were not enough, Jesus goes on to conclude his answer to them
by saying 'The Father and I are One.' Now, just to be clear, the
Father Jesus is speaking of here is God. And he is saying that he and
God are one, unified, the same. And if any may try to argue that this
can not be taken as divine claim, then it should be noted that the
Jews of his time had no doubt that it was. It was one of the charges
against him at his trial that claims such as this were blasphemous
because he was making himself equal with God.

So
there can be no serious argument that Jesus did not claim or
considered himself to be divine. As to whether that claim was true,
we need only look to the evidence of both the miracles, which he said
proved who he said he was, and his Resurrection. And for those for
whom that is not sufficient proof, I can only think of our Lord's own
words: 'there are none so blind as those who will not see.'

But
going back to my opening words, that patience is a virtue, I think
there is something else very important for us to take away from this
passage. Despite the wilful refusal of so many to believe in him, our
Lord never gave up on them. This incident takes place relatively
early in Christ's ministry. He was to carry on trying to bring his
good news to such as these for quite a long time to come; and he did
not cease until his death upon the Cross. And so therefore must we
continue to try to bring the message of the Gospel to all, even those
who do not want to hear it, as long as there is breath in our bodies.
St Peter called Jesus' teaching 'the
words of eternal life.'
Christ came into the world that all might have life, and have it in
abundance; how then can we who call ourselves his followers not share
those words of eternal life with all, especially those who do not
wish to hear? They are the ones who most need it. And so we must be
patient with them, even as Christ was patient with those who would
not believe in his day, working for their salvation and our own until
the end of our days. Amen.

'Dearly beloved … I purpose, through God’s assistance, to administer to all such as shall be religiously and devoutly disposed the most comfortable Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ; to be by them received in remembrance of his meritorious Cross and Passion; whereby alone we obtain remission of our sins, and are made partakers of the kingdom of heaven. Wherefore it is our duty to render most humble and hearty thanks to Almighty God our heavenly Father, for that he hath given his Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, not only to die for us, but also to be our spiritual food and sustenance in that holy Sacrament. Which being so divine and comfortable a thing to them who receive it worthily, and so dangerous to them that will presume to receive it unworthily; my duty is to exhort you in the mean season to consider the dignity of that holy mystery, and the great peril of the unworthy receiving thereof; and so to search and examine your own consciences … that ye may come holy and clean to such a heavenly Feast.'

Friday, April 15, 2016

So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.'

John 6. 53

Reflection Our Lord can put it no plainer than that – without the sacrament of his body and blood there can be no life in us. Pray for those who bar their own path to heaven by refusing to humbly come into his presence to partake of so heavenly a food.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

'I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

John 6.51

Reflection Again Christ teaches that eternal life depends on the bread of life. How eager then we should be to attend the sacred mysteries not only each Sunday, but on every occasion that we may in order to eat of that living and life-giving bread.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'

John 6. 35

Reflection Those who partake of the bread of life are filled with the food that strengthens unto eternal life. Do not deny yourself this grace; for in the breaking of the bread you meet with Christ himself.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

May
my words be in the name of the Father, & of the Son, & of the
Holy Ghost. Amen.

Our Gospel reading today is most of the final chapter of St John's
Gospel. It is sometimes called the second ending, because the
evangelists seems to have concluded his account in the passage that
proceeds it … and then he keeps going! We might also call this part
of his Gospel the ending of reminders; for in it Jesus gives several
reminders to his Apostles as to what it is that they should be doing.

The
passage opens in Galilee. St Peter has said to the disciples 'I am
going fishing.' So they get into the boat and they fish all night but
they catch nothing. Then Jesus appears on the shore and tells them to
cast their net to the right side of the boat. And suddenly it is so
full they can not haul it it. And even though it is filled with large
fish, the net does not break.

The
scene reminds us, does it not, of when Christ first called the
disciples? There they are in the boat, fishing without success; and
there is Christ on the shore telling them to cast their net to the
side once more; and then, miraculously, the net is full. They are in
the boat, fishing again, seemingly thinking of going back to their
old lives; and Jesus reminds them of that day long ago when he first
called them. Unspoken is the implicit message of this reminder, the
words he spoke to them when he first called them - 'I am calling you
to be fishers of men.'

It
is good for us also to be reminded that we, like they, are fishers of
men. The disciples were discouraged because they did not, as yet,
understand what the Resurrection really meant; and we too can easily
become discouraged because the world hates the message of Christ –
as it has done through the ages. But how can we abandon the task? It
is the most important duty in the world – because it involves the
salvation of souls. It does not matter that many of those we are
called to save hate us. Did not Christ not tell us to love our
enemies and do good to those who hate us? Therefore, we must heed
Christ's reminder to remain persistent in being fishers of men.

The
next segment in our reading reminds us that he does not leave us
alone in this task. On the beach Christ is waiting for the men as
they leave the boat. He has a fire burning; and has prepared for them
a meal of bread and fish. And in these few words we are brought back
to an earlier scene in the Gospel story, the miraculous feeding of
the five thousand, where Christ fed a great multitude with only a few
loaves and some fish. And in St John's Gospel these are our Lord's
great discourses on how he is the Bread of Life, and how those who
would have life in them must eat this bread. They are in other words
Eucharistic; and Jesus, by way of this simple meal reminds them of
Sacrament of the Eucharist, how at the Last Supper he told them that
the bread was now his body, and the wine now his blood, and commanded
them to do this in memory of him; he is reminding them how he will
be with them always in the breaking of the bread, giving them life
and grace and strength – not merely for the salvation of their own
souls, but so that they can carry on with the mission he entrusted to
them, of bringing all people to him.

Again,
their reminder is ours. We too must partake frequently and worthily
of the Eucharist if we are to have the grace and strength we need to
live out God's commandments in our own lives – particularly the
last one that Christ gave to his Apostles before his glorious
Ascension, that of making disciples of all peoples, and baptising
them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The
final reminder comes in what is sometimes called Jesus' reinstatement
of Peter. Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him; three times
Peter replies that he does; and three times our Lord exhorts Peter to feed or tend his lambs and sheep. The three-fold questioning
reminds us of Peter's three-fold denial of Christ during his Passion.
But I do not think that we should think because of this that our
Lord's words are directed solely to Peter. For Peter's leadership role
among the Apostles can not be underestimated. They are there this day
fishing because they followed Peter. And then there are the words of
Christ to Peter even as he predicted his three-fold denial as
recorded by St Luke: ‘Simon,
Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but
I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when
once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.’ Peter
here is being reinstated; our Lord's prediction that he would turn
back to the way of the Gospel is coming true; and Peter now must
strengthen his brother Apostles to feed and tend the flock of the
Church. It is a pastoral charge; and therefore for those who follow
Christ today it has particular relevance to those with pastoral
duties, especially those among the clergy. But all of us have some
pastoral role to play. We all of us, for example, are part of a
family; and families are the basic unit of the Church. So parents
have a pastoral role in the bringing up of the children in the faith
– their children are the sheep they must feed and tend for the sake
of their souls. And we all have friends and neighbours we are called
to evangelise by the example of our own Holy Living and also, when
necessary, by preaching the word of God to them directly.

So,
we have three reminders from Christ himself of our duties as
Christians this morning: that we are to be fishers of men; that we
are to come together to share in the Eucharist and be strengthened by
him in it; and to be faithful in our pastoral care of others
according to the role we play within the Church. They are duties we
should engage in with great joy; for by doing so we help not only to
achieve our own salvation, but that of others. And so by doing so we
go some small way towards imitating our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
who so desired to save others that he became man and died for our
sins. How happy we should be to have the privilege of following in
his footsteps in our own poor and humble way. We know that the
disciples he met on the beach that morning were soon to be filled
with that joy – I pray that all here already are and always be.
Amen.

Friday, April 8, 2016

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

John 6. 15

Reflection His kingdom was not of this world; it was on the cross that he would be glorified. And now that he has been glorified all who follow him may hope to share in that glory before the throne of heaven.

Monday, April 4, 2016

Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’

Luke 1.38

Reflection The example of the Blessed Virgin Mary to us is that of perfect obedience to God's will. Who knows what great things that the Lord may work in the world through us, if only we, like her, are humble enough to submit to what he asks of us?

Sunday, April 3, 2016

One of the great themes of Christ's post-Resurrection appearances was the urgency with which he again and again commanded his disciples to take his Gospel out into the world, to share it with other that they might know his call to repentance and forgiveness of sins. It is not, therefore, something we can choose to ignore if we are to be faithful followers of our Lord. It imposes a great duty on us then: first, learn well his teachings and take them into our hearts; next to ensure that those around us with whom we share in the breaking of the bread are equally well versed in the sound doctrine that has been entrusted to us; and finally to go out and share his good news with all the world.

Saturday, April 2, 2016

And Jesus said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.

Mark 15. 15

Reflection: Again and again after he rose from the dead Jesus commands his disciples to share his Gospel with all the world. And filled with the joy of his Resurrection, how can we not but obey and share our joy with all we meet?

Friday, April 1, 2016

Jesus said to them‘ ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.

John 21.6

Reflection Jesus after his Resurrection reminded his disciples of when he first called them and that they were to be fishers of men. We who follow in their footsteps today must never forget our own calling to be fishers of men and work for the salvation of souls.

Ancient Faith Radio

tempus fugit! The time to repent is now!

Greek Orthodox Chant from Mount Athos - The Jesus Prayer

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The verses of Sacred Scripture for the daily Prayer Diary is from that day's Gospel reading for Holy Communion

'And do not be conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.'

The letter of the Apostle Paul to the Romans (12.2)

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About Me

Hi, I'm Paddy (the Rev Patrick G. Burke), a priest in the Church of Ireland. The title of the blog is from a description of me in a letter my grandmother wrote to my mother in 1965 when I was three! May God richly bless you and those whom you love today and everyday. Amen.